In 2000, single-parent households numbered over 12 million. Today, 14 million children under 15 live with single mothers and three million live with single fathers. Despite what the numbers, the media and/or overall assumptions suggests, those figures are shifting as more and more fathers are standing up....and being counted.
This series of profiles is about the men among us —some you know, some you don’t know—who day in and day out do what many do without ceremony....they’re there.
These men do dishes, they wash clothes and they bake cookies. These men pick up children from daycare, drop them off for practice and sell concessions at little league games. These men read bedtime stories, buy school clothes, treat to Valley Fair, work on science projects, they raise other people’s kids, stay vigilant on countless others, and they say, “bless you” when they’re babies sneeze. These men mentor, they coach, they call, they discipline...they care.
We hear so much about what men don’t do, what they could do better, or “if only we could only change them.” But yet, so many men are doing the best they can with the information and resources they have. In my life, I have been blessed to know ‘a few good men’
This series is a tribute to the brothers, the men who show up and stand up: these are the faces of men.
Terry Austin
Sales Executive
Founder, Positive Image Organization
Age: 35
“When I first found out I was going to be a father, I was excited and scared, but okay with having a child,” said Terry Austin. “As a young man (I was 24 at the time), you’re always wondering, ‘am I ready to take on this responsibility?’ You quickly realize you’re not a child anymore, it’s not about me.”
Fresh out of college, Austin and his then wife were a newly-married young couple overjoyed with the birth of their daughter. “The early years were fun!” he recalled. “First walks, first talks, the first time she said, ‘daddy’ —I was just excited by her overall development,” he said.
Once he became a father, Austin quickly realized the importance of surrounding himself with positive role models and other fathers. “You gotta see fatherhood to believe it,” he said. “Seek out other fathers who are truly there for their kids....you gotta feed it.”
Growing up in a middle-class family, Austin had a well-rounded upbringing. His parents, married 45 years, instilled in him and his siblings strong family values that are ingrained in him despite the vices and trappings of drugs, gangs, etc that surrounded them. “Our family circle was tight, we had a lot of discipline and structure. Our family and strong support system outweighed our environment,” he said.
Today, Austin is a single father of two beautiful daughters with whom he is actively involved and engaged. In addition to his day job as an account executive for a prestigious shipping firm, he is also actively involved in the community through his non-profit organization, Positive Image. The organization provides outreach and support by creating awareness about health disparities. They also encourage and develop leadership within the community.
Reflecting on his life as a father and how it’s affected him, Terry realized that the people around him had to share the values and goals he has for himself and his daughters.
“My inner circle of people has to be inspiring and encourage me to be a better person, spiritually and otherwise,” he said. “Fatherhood raise the stakes, I want my girls to look up to me. You hope your children love you enough to admire you for being a good parent.”
Of course, every parent wants the best for their child. Austin said he hopes his daughters learn to value education, pursue happiness and surround themselves with people who inspire them to be better people, and an even better parent than he is.
Austin is a doting father and is proud to say he lavishes his daughters with time and affection; he understands the important role a father plays in shaping a daughter’s choices later in life.
“It’s so important, especially with girls, (because) their minds, their vision of how they see men, how they should love and be loved, comes from their father. I take that seriously,” said Austin. “I tell my daughters I love them, I let them know they can do whatever they want, that is what I instill in them. Always have an ‘I can’ attitude, never give up on what you believe in,” he said.
Though not always prepared for fatherhood, he admits he loves being a parent.
“It’s exciting to watch my children grow and see their spirit, their drive towards their goals, their willingness to experiment and try things....even the bossiness, which my youngest gets from her mother!” he laughs.
“It’s important to make your kids feel loved...and as a parent you want to feel did you a good job and that they’ll admire you one day,” said Austin.
Stay tuned for more FACES OF MEN
